Devout Washington high school sports fans like to debate which state atmosphere is the best. Mat Classic gets plenty of praise, and the state football playoffs are hard to beat, but in my experience, the 2B and 1B state basketball tournaments in Spokane reign supreme.
Four days of non-stop basketball anywhere is a great time for me, but there’s something special about the smaller schools giving it their all on the biggest stage of the season. Although I had only covered Rainier High School’s girls team in depth coming into the season, I fell in love with a number of additional teams, players and coaches during my stay in eastern Washington.
There was something special about the seventh-seeded Mossyrock boys, led by feisty head coach Tom Kelly, pulling off upset after upset to reach the title game before falling just short. Another special moment came from Napavine sophomore Hayden Kaut knocking down a cold-blooded 3-pointer to win the girls team its first-ever state title. There was something special about Lake Roosevelt’s Chase Marchand dropping 35 points and eight 3-pointers to clinch third place at state, just one night after losing a heartbreaker in the semifinals.
What stood out to me above all else, however, were the students that made the trip to Spokane Arena, both the athletes and fans. I’ve never been to a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but the 2B and 1B basketball tournaments were the closest thing I’ve experienced to it. The arena was shaking before many of the games tipped off. I got to experience dozens of schools’ home environments in a matter of four days.
The student-athletes left it all out there on the floor, which may seem obvious given the stakes. But the amount of dives for loose balls and hustle plays far outnumbered the boneheaded plays. The razzle dazzle outweighed the headscratchers. As the stakes grew more significant, you could cut the tension with a knife, and the student-athletes delivered in the biggest of moments. You could feel how much every game meant to the students, regardless of whether they finished with a fourth-place game or the state title game. That’s something you could argue for any state basketball tournament in America, but this particular collection of small schools scattered around smaller cities in Washington won my heart over. I cannot wait to do this again next February.
